By Jerry Vaughan “Debt” isn’t a popular word in churches. As church lenders and people of faith ourselves, we understand: it’s difficult to preach about being debt-free and then turn around and borrow money for a building project. So when cautioned against committing too heavily to raising funds ahead of construction — compared to financing […]
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Every day, I talk to church leaders who are looking for additional financial support. They’ve grown frustrated with their current loan (or lack thereof). All too often, the conversation becomes an explanation of why a bank isn’t likely to be interested in a project or loan and then a few basic changes to consider for […]
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Supply chain issues. Rising interest rates. A reimagined worship environment. All these factors — and more — are likely to impact church financing now and in years to come. Church Executive: Tell me about your organization and its history working with churches. David Lee: Thrivent has been serving the financing needs of churches for more […]
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The dangers of choosing an organization-centered response By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris At a Christian school in West Texas, five employees were recently arrested and charged with ‘Failure to Report with Intent to Conceal’ after a teen reported he had been sexually assaulted on campus, by another student. Nine days later, four administrators from […]
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When the term “engaging design” comes up, the financing part of the equation might seem unrelated. Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve been working in the church loan market, exclusively, for more than 16 years. I’ve known Bruce Woody, President and CEO of HH Architects, that entire time. Our organizations attend and sponsor […]
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Sexual Abuse Risk and Third-Party Use of Facilities By Gregory Love & Kimberlee Norris BOY SCOUTS SETTLEMENT FUND EXCEEDS $2.6 BILLION Not every organization has chartered or hosted a Boy Scout Troop, but every organization with physical facilities must learn the lessons stemming from this massive child sexual abuse settlement. Third-party use of facilities can […]
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It’s all about timing! By Rodney C. James As they say, “timing is everything.” When forecasting for church construction this year, there can’t be a more accurate statement. In 2021, we all saw crazy increases in the prices of construction materials, sometimes daily. While some of the chaos of pricing fluctuation has stabilized, the new […]
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By Gregory S. Love & Kimberlee D. Norris Youth Leader Arrested for Sexual Abuse of 14-Year-Old Girl screams the frontpage headline of a major metropolitan newspaper — yet again. As detectives investigate, several other teen girls come forward with additional allegations. Parents of students in the program express hurt, anger and bewilderment: how could this […]
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By Gregory S. Love & Kimberlee D. Norris Headlines related to child sexual abuse continue to rock the Church, and faith-based organizations continue to reevaluate sexual abuse response and resources. The New Year provides a good opportunity to ‘check in’ on current church practices related to child sexual abuse. We asked Kimberlee D. Norris and […]
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By Kirk Evans If you are wondering whether it’s time to come up with a more cohesive, actionable defensive plan for your church family, the short answer is yes, now is the time. To help you understand what this entails through the eyes of another church leader, we sat down and chatted with Pastor Frank […]
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